Samhain woke as sunlight filtered through the window. He blinked several times then realised that he had over slept. He jumped up and quickly dressed then ran downstairs into the inns common room. He thanked the innkeeper then rushed outside. Thankfully his horse was ready for him when he reached the stable. He saddled up then rode off out of the town. He was panicking because he had slept so late and who knew what could have happened to Achroi in that time. He rode swiftly down the small road, occasionally passing some travellers. He stopped briefly to study the map and took off again. He didn't know whether anyone was looking for him or not but he wasn't going to slow down to find out. He passed several other small towns on his way to the city but didn't bother stopping. He was on a mission and nothing was going to prevent him from finishing it.
Achroi woke once again with her head throbbing. But this time it wasn't just her head that was hurting. She had a bad pain in the stomach and felt very sick. She stared up at the ceiling and realised that the light wasn't on. In fact, the entire room was pitch black. She adjusted her eyes to the darkness and looked around. Nothing had changed. There were still bits and pieces everywhere and the control board was still there. The monitors were flashing and making funny noises. Achroi lay back down and held her head. She felt really sick and her head was killing her. She tried closing her eyes to see if the pain would leave but it didn't.
She was about to go mad from the pain when the steel door opened. In walked the same man from before, the one who had injected something into her. He flicked on the light and she hissed as the light hurt her eyes. He heard the hiss and turned to look at her in amazement.
"What?" Achroi said scathingly, "Amazed that I'm still here, are you?"
"As a matter of fact, yes," the man said as he walked over to examine her, "I'm very surprised indeed to see that you have woken up."
"Why?"
"We've never done this experiment before and I'm quite surprised that we have successfully performed the first stage."
"First stage?" Achroi said weakly, "You mean there's more?"
"Yes, a lot more," the man answered, "but for now, you must go back to sleep." And he injected something once more into her arm.
Samhain slumped in the saddle and tried to keep his eyes open. He had been riding all day and for half the night. It was well past midnight but he didn't stop. He didn't want to stop. He had to keep going, he just had to. Achroi was probably in a lot of trouble and was probably terrified, although she wouldn't admit that fact to him. She'd stay strong and defiant on the outside but wither on the inside out of fear. He kept riding down the narrow, winding road. He told himself that he'd stop at the next town but he had no idea where the next town was. So he rode and rode. The only person he passed was this strange old lady who was sitting on the side of the road muttering incomprehensible things. Samhain was about to give up and settle for the side of the road to sleep when small bright lights appeared up ahead. He had finally reached a town.
The pain was now worse than ever. Achroi didn't want to open her eyes but her stomach was making her double over in sheer agony. It hurt so much! Something was happening to her body and she wasn't sure what. She was absolutely terrified because she felt like she was being ripped apart at the seems. She was screaming when the same man from before walked into the lab.
"Still alive," he muttered, "amazing." He took out a smaller needle and injected it into her arm. The pain started to ebb away and she was starting to feel slightly relaxed.
"This is absolutely amazing," the man remarked.
"How is it amazing?" Achroi croaked. Her throat was parched dry.
"I've never seen anything like this. Your body is adapting quite well to this sudden change and you don't seem to have any side effects."
"The constant pain isn't a side effect?" Achroi said trying to sound sarcastic but failed miserably.
"Well, pain is expected with this kind of thing," he said tentatively, "Surely you expected some sort of pain?"
"Yes and no," Achroi replied weakly.
"Well, I'm just going to give you this last needle and it should all be over once you wake up again," the man said producing a much larger needle than before and jabbing it into her stomach this time.
"What if I don't wake up this time?" Achroi asked panicking momentarily.
"Oh, with the rate you're going you'll definitely wake up." Achroi just nodded weakly and laid her head on the pillow.
"Oh, and you can expect some changes to your body when you wake up," the man said before he left.
"What kind of changes?" Achroi managed to ask.
"Major, life altering changes."
She didn't like the sound of that.
Anthea was having a panic attack. She knew she should have left some servants stationed at Samhains door. Her only son had run away to try and find that girl. Who knew where he was or what kind of trouble he had gotten himself into? Emmanuel had organised several search parties but none so far had found her precious boy. She was beginning to worry she'll never see him again when Emmanuel walked in the front door.
"I've decided to send some search parties out to Myanmalla. It's the only rational place where he'd go," Emmanuel announced as he sat down at the dinner table.
"But what if he isn't there? What if he has been captured by some rogue highwaymen?" Anthea asked ringing her hands.
"Samhain's a smart boy, Anthea. He'll know to stay off small, deserted roads. And don't worry, we'll find him soon enough."
Samhain had finally reached the borders of Myanmalla. He was passing the stone border when someone on a white horse flew by him. Samhain stared at the galloping figures for a while then turned his attention back to the city of Myanmalla. His parents were right. It was a dirty, dark city and he didn't wish to be stuck there for very long. He slowly and cautiously proceeded through the town, stopping every now and then to ask some passer by if he or she had seen a young girl around. Every time he stopped to describe Achroi, the person he was talking to would look at him as if he were mad. Samhain was puzzled about this. Hadn't Achroi come here? Had she gone elsewhere?
Samhain was about to give up and go back when someone gestured to him. He walked over to the old man who had waved at him.
"I've heard ye asking for a young girl with grey eyes and long, ebony hair," the old man whispered.
"Yes, do you know her?" Samhain asked his spirits finally lifting.
"Yes, I know her. But I haven't seen her round these parts for some time now. And there's a good reason behind that, too."
"What reason? Can you take me to her?"
"Aye, I can. But you must tell me her name first, just so I can be sure."
"Her name's Achroi."
"Aye, I know her. Everyone knows her."
"Really? Well then you can take me to her, right?"
"Yes, I'll take ye to her." Samhain followed the old man through the city out to the edge. They were walking towards a graveyard. The old man led Samhain through rows and rows of graves before he stopped in front of an old white marble head stone.
"Why have you taken me to a graveyard?" Samhain asked, annoyed.
"You asked me to take you to Achroi, and I have," the old man said as he pointed to the stone. Samhain gasped as he read the inscription:
Here liesAchroi Geallian
1321-1336
Killed mercilessly at the age of fifteen
Beloved by all and sorely missed
The man looked at Samhains astonished face.
"What, surely ye knew she was dead? She's been dead for about 108 years, me boy. Died so young, poor thing. Murdered at the age of fifteen. Nobody knows who done it."
Well, at least now he knew why people were looking at him strangely. Achroi was dead and had been for some time now. Samhain just continued to stare at the stone while bits of what the man had said flitted through his mind…dead for 108 years…fifteen years old. It was all very sad and astonishing but one particular word stood out for Samhain: murdered.
Well, what did ya think? The grave proves Emmanuel's theory of Achroi being the living dead. Anyway, it's a bit rushed because I was so excited to be writing again. Anyway again, does anyone have any idea of what you think might be happening to Achroi? I'd like to hear what you think so just review, okay?
Bye…